Pedagogical Autobiography

I've always loved stories. When I was a kid, my favorite thing was to watch various movies and tv shows. I read some young adult books here and there, but nothing really grabbed me until I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A couple of weeks and the first four Harry Potter books later, a reader was born. I read a lot of books after this, mostly scifi/fantasy genre, and various classics. With regards to the latter some of my favorite books are Jane Eyre, A Tale of Two Cities, 1984, Gulliver's Travels, We, and Don Quixote. Some of my favorite modern authors are Ursula K Le Guin, Iain M Banks, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett. As this probably indicates, I still quite like Scifi/Fantasy. More specifically I enjoy Dystopian fiction and works with a social-political bent. Still I enjoy all genres -- or dislike them for that matter. If I had to say what made me want to become an English teacher, I would probably say conversations with my wife -- then fiancee -- Joyce. Whereas I had drifted through community college somewhat aimlessly, and considered not even going to a university, she wanted to go back to school to become a teacher. After many nights of talking about theoretical lesson plans, I realized that I would like to be a teacher as well.

I suppose the reason why I am interested in teaching English is due to my belief that it is important to help nurture creative and critical thought in young people -- and older people for the matter, but it's harder. I know of no better way to introduce people to the world of ideas than through literature.